Organism testing apparatus

Abstract

An organism testing apparatus adapted to measure the organisms in a specimen in stable fashion is disclosed in which the organisms are stained, the specimen is concentrated and the information on the organisms contained in the specimen are acquired through a simple process. The apparatus includes a staining unit for staining the organisms having live cells existing in a flowing liquid specimen, a concentration unit for concentrating the organisms in a flowing stained specimen, an individual measuring unit for acquiring the image information on the individuals containing the organisms in the concentrated specimen, and a control unit for measuring the organisms based on the image information on the individuals output from the individual measuring unit.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates to an organism testing apparatus for measuring the organisms contained in the ballast water, etc.[0002]The ballast water is the sea water loaded as a weight to secure safety when the ship sails without load, and discharged with the arrival at a port.[0003]In recent years, the international movement of the ballast water in the ships operating on an international line has posed the environmental problem that the movement of foreign organisms contained in the ballast water destroys the existing biological system or pollutes the ocean. In Australia, for example, the toxication of cultured shellfishes by toxic plankton is reported.[0004]To cope with this problem, IMO (International Maritime Organization) adopted in February 2004 “International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship's Ballast Water and Sediments” (Ballast Water Management Convention). Under this convention, all the ships using the ballast water are obligat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]In view of the present situation described above, the object of this invention is to provide an organism testing apparatus in which the organisms contained in the specimen such as the ballast water can be measured in stable fashion by acquiring the information on the staining of the organisms, the concentration of the specimen and the types of the contained organisms through a simple process.

[0019]According to this invention, the step of staining the organisms in the liquid specimen the step of concentrating the organisms in the liquid and the step of acquiring the information on the organisms in the liquid can be executed in an integrated flow system. As compared with the method in which each step is executed in a batch, therefore, the standby time before a part of the specimen that has finished a given step proceeds to the next step can be remarkably shortened or reduced to zero. Thus, the deterioration of the staining state which otherwise might occur during the standby time can be prevented, and the stable information on the life or death of the organisms can be acquired.

Problems solved by technology

In recent years, the international movement of the ballast water in the ships operating on an international line has posed the environmental problem that the movement of foreign organisms contained in the ballast water destroys the existing biological system or pollutes the ocean.

This method, which requires both a high inspection cost and a long inspection time, poses the additional problem that the reliability of the test result is dependent on the skill of the inspector.

Further, this method is unrealistic in view of the fact that the ballast water of at least 1 m3 is required for the test of the plankton having live cells not less than 50 μm in minimum diameter.

In the concentration process, the organisms in the specimen liquid are highly liable to be physically damaged.

The fact that the organism is physically damaged in the concentration process, therefore, deteriorates the reliability of the information on the life or death of the organism.

The application of this method to the ballast water testing apparatus, however, is accompanied by special problems of the concentration of a great amount of the liquid and a long testing time due to the requirement of the specimen liquid amount of not less than 1 m3.

It is thus therefore difficult to judge the information on life or death from the presence or absence of the stain.

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